I don't believe I know any woman over the age of 15 that hasn't been sexually assaulted, inappropriately gropped, fondled or touched without her consent by someone. So I'm not surprised that when @kellyoxford asks women on twitter to share their first sexual assault stories that there are more than 1 million responses with most of the events starting in childhood.

While the tipping point in the conversation about the prevalence of assault against women may be the latest video clip about Trump, it started earlier with the story of the rapes on campuses across the country, the victim letter from the Stanford rape case, the film The Hunting Ground, and the dozens of women talking about Bill Cosby assaulting them. It started with Anita Hill talking about sexual harassment at work before congress and that conversation about how a reasonable person and a reasonable woman might have different perspectives.

On Friday President Obama signed into law the Sexual Assault Survivor's Rights Act that allows rape kits to be preserved for up to 20 years or the State's maximum statue of limitations. It also lets survivors be advised in writing 60 days before their rape kit is destroyed and lets them request preservation beyond the scheduled destruction date.

Sexual assault is one of the most unreported crimes. Reading through the responses to Kelly Oxford's post on twitter, men apologize, point out that Bill Clinton did bad things too, or talk about how people are innocent until proven guilty. They blame the media and point out that men are sexually assaulted as well.

To men out there, you don't need to apologize or deflect. What you need to do is to speak out. The conversation Trump had in 2005 is common. It's not okay and it normalizes inappropriate behavior. It's your turn to speak out against the men that talk like this. Get offended. The men that talk this way prey upon your mothers, sisters wives and daughters. Talk to the women that have been assaulted. Find out for yourself that it's almost every woman you know and often most girls you know. You have to get horrified before you support tremendous change.

Jarisch-Herxheimer Reaction also known more simply as Herxheimer or Herx reaction sometimes occurs after antibiotic treatment causes a large die off of bacteria, fungus, yeast, or other systemic infections. initially described by Adolf Jarisch in 1895 and later by Karl Herxheimer in 1902, the reactions have been found in syphillis, sarcoidosis, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic lyme disease, leptospirosis, relapsing fever and candidiasis starting within an hour or so of taking the antibiotic to several weeks later and can last for a few hours to weeks.

Symptoms of a herxheimer reaction include:

Flu like illness

Muscle or joint pain

Low grade fever

Bone pain

Nausea

Diarrhea

Vomiting

Mental Confusion

Anxiety

Depression

Neurological Symptoms

High or low blood pressure

Changes in heart rate or rhythm

Heart palpitations

Rashes

It's important to recognize that the reaction is the result of the toxins being released by the bacteria, fungus or yeast dying off and not the result of a side effect of the antibiotic. The reaction is generally mild, but may be severe and may require medical treatment to lessen the severity. Treatment may consist of corticosteroids, IV fluids, blood pressure medication, and even dialysis.

If you think you may be having a Herxheimer reaction check with your physician. In most cases the reaction subsides without incident in a day or so.

If you have quyestions about any medical condition we can assist with information, research and support. Feel free to contact us at 818-223-4116.

Jessica Jacobs died in August. She had Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. She is also described as having Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. I say described because I’m not sure I believe that. I think she had Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome with Autonomic Dysregulation and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome is just a part of that. She lived most of her adult life in Washington, DC but moved back to Twain Harte, California when she became too disabled to continue working. She wanted to be closer to her family.

Jessica Jacobs was an advocate for the disabled and a blogger that wrote about her poor medical care and lack of coordination of her medical treatment. The types with dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system, and bleeding disorders are at risk for sudden death. Jessica noted all the places that were not accessible to her in a wheelchair, including her hospital room bathroom. She attempted to ensure that all her doctors could share medical records but carried around a binder of them because they couldn’t. She found her primary care physician dumping her onto uncoordinated specialist care abhorrent. Unfortunately, this is a common practice with any rare medical condition. It’s a bit more common with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.

Depending on the study, somewhere between 58 and 79 percent of all psychological diagnoses have a substantial medical component. That's a very alarming statistic. In the 1970's the field of medical psychology was created to address this need. By the late 1980's it had all but dissappeared, replaced by the less medically intense health psychology field or the broader behavioral medicine field.

When I first went into practice I worked with a family practice physician. My office was located in his office. The referral question was simple: "This person has been seeing me (the MD) for 4 or more visits and the diagnosis is unclear" or "This person is not responding to treatment." Of the hundred or so people I saw over the first year, I diagnosed about 30 cases of cancer, 20 cases of heart disease, and 35 cases of endocrine disorders. The rest were a mixture of psychological conditions and non-compliance with complicated medical treatment. My private practice geared to work with heart disease and cancer was starting to be filled by men with what would eventually be diagnosed as HIV/AIDS. I drove to San Francisco on the weekends to be with a client who was being treated at San Francisco General. I stopped counting the deaths at 175 and closed my practice to start working for one of the insurance companies.

At a risk management seminar I was sitting at a table of physicians. They presented a case of a woman with persistent neck pain. The cardiologist at the table and I were arguing over the diagnosis. The case was presented in pieces, just like it is in a medical office. She had been cleaning the shower and her neck started hurting. It felt better after some rest but still didn't go away. She thought maybe she had the flu. I was telling the cardiologist the woman had a heart attack. He was telling me I wasn't a doctor. After the third visit for neck adjustment the woman collapsed at home. She'd had three heart attacks. I explained to the cardiologist that women experience heart attacks differently than men and they have different symptoms mainly neck and jaw pain, fatigue and muscle aches. Almost all my heart patients were women. Almost all were misdiagnosed in medical offices or even at emergency rooms.

The endocrine diagnoses were worse. Almost all my endocrine patients were misdiagnosed with depression, anxiety, or personality disorders. Some had endocrine tumors. Some of those tumors were malignant. Just trying to get the correct tests done or imaging studies done was challenging. Eventually I had physicians I worked with because we knew each other, and they understood what I did. For physicians not trained in clinical medicine, they decided I was psychic. For physicians trained in clinical medicine, they honed their skills and trusted them more than the lab studies they treated like oracles.

Now I tend to work with more neurological symptoms, recent head injury or abnormal test results that don't seem to correlate with any illness. When the Dr. House series was on television it was easier to explain what I did. That was a show about clinical medicine. I like the puzzle. I like figuring out what's going on.

If you don't have a diagnosis and have seen your physician for more than 4 visists, or if you aren't responding to treatment, contact me. I'm likely to be able to help with diagnosis and treatment.

Patient shaming. This time it happened to/about my cat. This happens by physicians (or vets) when they don’t know what is going on and all the treatment options they know of have been exhausted. It usually happens to people on the fourth visit either when there isn’t a diagnosis or the treatment is ineffective.

I ‘ve had Tatum since she was just under 2 years old. She was a hot mess. She was in several foster homes. The rescue organization referred to her as medically fragile. She had a couple of common cat conditions, namely cat acne, and bilateral herpes of the eyes. But she was ripping her face and ears open and the go-to diagnosis was some sort of unseen parasite. She was subjected to scrapings, dips, multiple medications and a food diet so extreme that she was only eating one brand of cat food and only turkey pate at that. She still had all the conditions. The rescue person dropped her off, did a cursory look at the house and ran out yelling “Start the car. They took the cat.”

I kept up with all the craziness for a year. Then I stopped the pills. I stopped the drops. I kept her eating out of ceramic or glass dishes. I started varying her food. No change. She ripped her face open and I took her to two vets. No parasites. It’s stress. Cat self-harm. Cat trauma. New people trigger it. Sometimes the other cat triggers it. Sometimes it’s a thunderstorm. She eventually gets over it. She’s been fine for the last several days.

She just turned five and I took her to the vet. New vet.
“She should be on L-Lysine twice a day” she said.

“I did that,” I said. “It does nothing.”

“She’s ripping her face open because of the cat acne. It’s painful” she said.

“No,” I said. “She rips her face open when she’s psychotic.”

“We can treat that. There’s medication for it” she said.

“I’ve given her creams and drops for a year. It does nothing. No thank you.”

“So you want your cat to be in pain. I guess you know everything.”

“She’s here for vaccinations. Can you do those?”

“Yes,” she said.

Stalemate.

It’s annoying. It happens because doctors are taught in medical school that they have to know everything. For many it hinders later collaborative practice. They blame patients with chronic medical conditions that don’t respond to typical treatment. They blame parents for children not improving. They blame people when they can’t diagnose. They refer to therapy as a last resort rather than as a first line of options. Switching doctors happens with disgruntled patients or being referred out to specialists is the common practice for physicians. It fragments treatment, limits history, and results in poorer medical care. As more physicians integrate psychologists into their practices hopefully this will lessen.

Disability is a complex system of insurance companies, state regulations, federal regulations and governmental bodies with competing and differing codes for determination. It’s confusing to a lot of people. Our office can help with all forms of evaluation.

DEFINITIONS

A disabling condition is a physical or emotional illness or collection of symptoms that impairs the ability to function in one or more areas of life.
Accommodations are methods to assist someone in performing tasks so they can function better.

Accommodations may include a device such as a computer that recognizes speech, or converts speech to text, or reads text aloud. It may be a wheelchair or a cane. It may be a device that helps to put on socks, or grab items, or button. It may be a device that helps someone hold a spoon, or fork, or pencil. It may be a cell phone or tape recorder. It may be a system of applications that says what color something is, what denomination of money someone has, or a prompting system to help with memory. It may be a medical device to test blood sugar, blood pressure, temperature, pulse. It may be extended time on exams, a private room, natural lighting, a test given on computer or a paper based test. It may be a service animal or emotional support animal. It may be voice activated door bells, light switches, smoke detectors. It’s not an advantage, but it may be an equalizer.

An off work notice. This is a letter to an employer indicating a disabled person is not able to function in their usual and customary job as a result of a temporary disabling condition. This usually needs to come from a physician (psychologists count as physicians in this regard). The person is expected to undergo some form of treatment to return them back to their usual and customary job.

Evaluation of disability by a treating provider. This is a letter or report of the symptoms and a description of functional impairments. This may be requested by an employer or by an insurance company handling a disability claim. This letter does not have to be written by a physician.

Evaluation of disability for the Social Security Administration. This is an evaluation of how an individual is able to function in their ability to perform simple work in the general labor market. The is not an evaluation of their ability to perform their usual and customary job. This is simple work. Examples would be the person who bags groceries at a grocery store and retrieves shopping carts, or the helper that waters plants at the local nursery. It involves some degree of judgment such as not putting the gallon of milk on top of the carton of eggs.

Evaluation of disability for accommodations. This is a complex evaluation involving multiple layers of documenting what is required and what is available. For conditions such as ADHD, or for tests such as licensing board tests these evaluations are lengthy and extensive.

We perform all tyes of evaluaitons on all age groups and write letters as part of those evaluations. Feel free to contact our office.

In 2006 I and a colleague stood up in an auditorium in San Jose at a California Psychological Association convention and spoke about what it was like to have a head injury, and how the research, done mainly by psychologists working for insurance companies and personal injury attorneys, was flat out wrong.

In 2006 basic information about concussion included the following INCORRECT information:

Concussion is a minor thing.

Everyone improves within a couple of weeks.

People who don’t get better either are faking or have preexisting problems.

Multiple concussions aren’t significant.

If you didn’t report loss of consciousness then you didn’t have a concussion.

Brains have a fixed amount of nerves and don’t increase or change nerves so rehabilitation isn’t needed.

Football players have multiple concussions and are fine and can continue to play after concussion.

Most people function like football players.

We’ve come a long way. Here’s what we know now:

Concussion is a traumatic brain injury with a change in brain function. It doesn’t require loss of consciousness.

Seizures can occur within 18 months of a traumatic brain injury.

Headaches decrease in intensity and severity within 5 years of a minor traumatic brain injury.

Informal cognitive rehabilitation is done by almost everyone following a brain injury and may help people get back some degree of functioning.

While many concussions are from sports related injuries, there are numerous people with concussion unrelated to sports.

Football players with multiple concussions can develop long-term cognitive impairment due to repetitive brain injury.

It’s 2016. Here’s what we need to know:

In what ways do women and children with brain injuries from concussion differ from men or professional athletes with concussion.

We have statistics on emergency room visits for people with concussion. How many people never go to the emergency room following concussion? Is this similar or different from the population of people that do go to the emergency room?

What types of cognitive rehabilitation produce the most benefit for various types of injuries?

Our office evaluates people to provide information on neuropsychological functioning. If you need an evaluation feel free to contact us at 818-389-8384.

The new information on the Zika virus is that there is a confirmed case of sexual transmission of the virus in Texas. This means that anyone, male or female, traveling to an area where the virus is epidemic, or anyone who has flu like symptoms following being bitten by a mosquito should:

Not donate blood.

Not engage in sexual activity without using a condom.

Be closely monitored if you or your partner become pregnant following symptom development. An ultrasound at 20 weeks to check head size for microcephaly may be indicated.

It would be appropriate to ask the CDC to do something to protect the blood supply.

It would also be important to identify anyone that has tested positive for the Zika virus and develop a data base to evaluate long term sequela. Zika is a virus that can be expected to produce long term complications following infection. For many people this may simply be arthritis and may be quite mild. However, given the affinity of this virus for nerve cells in fetuses causing microcephaly, it would not be a stretch to expect that it may produce complications in nerve cells in adults.

Possible complications:

Arthritis. This has already been found in people with the virus.

Neuropathy, that sensation of pins and needles people experience when their arm or leg falls asleep.

Multiple sclerosis like symptoms from changes in nerve cells.

Guillain-Barre syndrome, an ascending slow paralysis or weakness already associated with the virus.

Muscle pain and weakness, already associated with the virus.

Since the virus and vector are similar to Dengue fever, hemorrhage, thrombocytopenia, or other blood disorders may also be complications.

For most people the Zika virus is a mild case of flu like symptoms if they notice anything at all. For others, like pregnant women it can result in their children having abnormally small heads and brains, known as microcephally. For others it may produce joint pain, or progressive symptoms of paralysis known as guillain barre syndrome. Fever, rash and runny eyes are common.

Zika virus is a viral infection of the blood carried by mosquitos. Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that carries the virus, lives in tropical and subtropical areas throughout the world. The mosquito strain is in the United States but their aren't enough infected people living in the United States to serve as hosts. It originated in Uganda Africa and was found in a rhesus monkey in 1947. In 2013 it caused significant human outbreaks in French Polynesia. It is likely also able to be sexually transmitted. I say likely because blood borne viruses are usually also sexually transmitted and the virus has been isolated in semen. The disease is most prevalent in South America, but it's also present in other countries. If it's not already in the United States, it will likely be here soon. There is no cure. Prevention measures are to avoid pregnancy in countries where the infection is in epidemic proportions and to avoid mosquitos. Treatment with antiviral medications have limited impact. Several pharmaceutical companies are working on a treatment or preventative medication.

In the meantime, if you can avoid traveling to tropical areas, especially if you are pregnant, then do that. Preventative treatment will likely be available within the next 2 to 5 years.

If you ever have any questions about illness, disability or clinical trials, feel free to contact me. 818-389-8384.